How to use the HTC One and Media Link HD to stream to your TV

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HTC’s Media Link HD has been around for a little while now, but the new HTC One gives you extra power and makes the whole experience a lot better.

For the most part, Android’s lack of a decent wireless streaming service makes it hard to do some of the things that can be done with Apple’s AirPlay. But if you have an HTC phone — specifically one that works with their Media Link HD adapter — you can re-create and do better than iOS and AirPlay. Getting setup is really simple, Media Link needs an HDMI port and a MicroUSB port for power.

First off, the Media Link HD adapter comes with a sticky casing that you can use to mount to the back of your television, or you can just let it hang off the back of your entertainment center. Once it boots, your HTC One should be able to detect it immediately.

HTC includes an OS-level gesture to connect to Media Link, if you decide going through the menu and connecting manually isn’t worth your time. A three-finger swipe up the screen will initiate a slight vibration to confirm that you are trying to connect to Media Link.

Once the connection is established, the television will mirror what is on your phone. The screen on your phone will look a little differently now, forced into landscape mode in a special TV format. Your launcher, folders, and wallpaper are all gone, replaced with this uniform experience. Your apps all exist in one long list, and you can swipe to choose which one you want. If you leave the launcher, you’ll be resented with a wide format BlinkFeed that you can refresh and continue to use. Otherwise, just pick the app you want and enjoy.

Every app, aside from Google Play Movies, will mirror to the television with no problems. Google has blocked their movie store from this feature, and if you try to launch the app and play a movie it won’t ever actually start. If you go to play most games you’ll notice that there’s very little lag, and if you go to use the browser of YouTube you’ll find the overall experience the same as your phone usually is.

If you try to play a more graphically intensive game like Reign of Amira, Media Link will lag out and have to catch up within the first minute of gameplay. The audio will fail first, and the video on the TV only will fail next. The game itself on your phone will be the same, and once Media Link catches up the experience is fluid and mirrors really well.

If you’re not tied into Apple’s ecosystem, and you’ve been looking at HTC’s One, this serves as a great added bonus for picking the phone up. Windows and WiDi, Samsung and DLNA, and Miracast for the select Android phones that currently support it are all reasonable alternatives if all you want to do is stream some content to your TV. If you want a great all around experience, however, HTC and Apple are the only ones doing it right.